After six years of stalled discussion and debate with Congressional Republicans over U.S. immigration policy, President Obama addressed the nation last night and shared his decision to defer the deportation of more than four million immigrants who entered the country illegally. The president characterizes the move as accountability, not amnesty. Congressional Republicans call it an executive overreach, and are threatening to halt appointments and legislation in retaliation.
On this edition of Houston Matters, we consider what the President’s action means for folks here in Houston and across Texas. We hear from Elsa Caballero of SEIU Texas, and then talk with Professor Geoffrey Hoffman, director of the UH Law Center's Immigration Clinic.
Then, we discuss the challenges of communicating between generations. In the workplace, in personal relationships, is there a generational divide when it comes to how we interact with one another? How might such a potential communication gap manifest itself in Greater Houston? We ask Houston-based family therapist Sadia Jalali, psychologist Dr. Michael Winters, and Suzanne Buck, Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Houston.
Also this hour: A lot can happen in a week. Some of it good. Some of it bad. Some of it downright ugly. When faced with intriguing developments in the week’s news, we turn to our panel of “non-experts” to parse The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of it all. On this week’s panel: Aurora Losada, editor of La Voz de Houston; Joe Holley, “Native Texan” columnist for the Houston Chronicle; and Marcus Davis, owner of The Breakfast Klub restaurant and host of Sunday Morning Live on Majic 102.1.
Plus: A conversation with actor Louis Gossett, Jr. The Oscar and Emmy-award winner was in town last week to participate in Houston in Concert Against Hate. He considered the appearance a natural fit for him. He’s always had an eye toward race relations in the role’s he’s chosen to play on screen, including his Emmy-winning role in the landmark TV miniseries Roots, and his Academy Award-winning turn in An Officer and a Gentleman. That approach continues to inform his thinking about projects he’s producing and directing. (He’s expected to direct a film to be shot here in Texas called Cottonwood, about dust bowl era families brought together amid racial injustice). He’s also the founder and President of The Eracism Foundation. We talk with Gossett about his foundation’s work, his views on race, and some of the stories he says Hollywood hasn’t gotten around to telling yet.
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